Craigslist Begins to Make a Dent
In New York Apartment Market

By

Jennifer Saranow The Wall Street Journal Online

Updated May 14, 2002 9:38 p.m. ET

Finding a Manhattan apartment hasn't been the same since Sept. 11. The weak economy and fears about safety have sent rents on the island and other, close-in areas down as much as 20%. Landlords have offered such incentives as free months of rent and subsidized broker fees to attract tenants.

But the rental market has changed in other ways as well. The quick spike in apartment openings made cutting out the traditional broker -- who in Manhattan acts as gatekeeper to most apartments and gets as much as 15% of a year's rent...